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The race riots didn't help, but they were largely secondary to the factories leaving. The UAW would never strike at their factory; they would usually go across

The race riots didn't help, but they were largely secondary to the factories leaving. The UAW would never strike at their factory; they would usually go across the street and strike at some significant, shared plant (like an engine factory for multiple vehicles). For a long time, logistic constraints prevented major auto companies from moving too far away, but once they figured it out they started putting each factory in a new, usually right-to-work state, so you could only strike at your factory. Flint went from being the home of GM and having ~14 major auto factories to 3. Similar story for Detroit. Similar things happened in most major industries. The other one I'm familiar with is GE Locomotive, who moved their engine facility to Grove City (which still never unionized), and now has a major facility in Fort Worth as well.

mmooss 2y ago
> The race riots didn't help, but they were largely secondary to the factories leaving. That's not what I mean. What I understand was that, in many cities (not just Detroit), racism led to the factories leaving.
- jsnider3 2y ago
  How does that work? Did GM suddenly decide there were too many black people in Michigan so they moved to Georgia?
  - mmooss 2y ago
    There are several issues of how racism interacted with manufacturing. One is that the auto manufacturers wouldn't hire black people into serious jobs - for a long time, all they could be was janitors, etc. I read one account that they went to local black leaders for recommendations and one person had a graduate degree - CPA or MBA, iirc. They got a dead-end clerical job or something like that. Union workers were often actively hostile, even when union leadership welcomed them. Multiple times they walked out when one black person was hired. Also, local racism crushed the black community, which would be the workforce. Redlining effectively prevented black people from living outside certain neighborhoods and prevented them from getting loans. They ended up packed into these neighborhoods, subject to white slumlords who charged exhorbident rents. Schools were awful. With little education, no money, no access to credit, and even if you overcame all that, no opportunity for career. Don't forget police brutality, race riots against blacks everywhere, lynchings in the South, etc. There is more I'm not remembering atm.

mmooss 2y ago

> The race riots didn't help, but they were largely secondary to the factories leaving. That's not what I mean. What I understand was that, in many cities (not just Detroit), racism led to the factories leaving.

jsnider3 2y ago
How does that work? Did GM suddenly decide there were too many black people in Michigan so they moved to Georgia?
- mmooss 2y ago
  There are several issues of how racism interacted with manufacturing. One is that the auto manufacturers wouldn't hire black people into serious jobs - for a long time, all they could be was janitors, etc. I read one account that they went to local black leaders for recommendations and one person had a graduate degree - CPA or MBA, iirc. They got a dead-end clerical job or something like that. Union workers were often actively hostile, even when union leadership welcomed them. Multiple times they walked out when one black person was hired. Also, local racism crushed the black community, which would be the workforce. Redlining effectively prevented black people from living outside certain neighborhoods and prevented them from getting loans. They ended up packed into these neighborhoods, subject to white slumlords who charged exhorbident rents. Schools were awful. With little education, no money, no access to credit, and even if you overcame all that, no opportunity for career. Don't forget police brutality, race riots against blacks everywhere, lynchings in the South, etc. There is more I'm not remembering atm.